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Moose Kerr students welcome the sun back to Aklavik

Students celebrated the return of the sun with a school-wide drum dance and fireworks

The sun finally returned to Aklavik on Jan. 10, and it was welcomed back to the small Beaufort Delta community by the smiling faces of just over 70 students from Moose Kerr School.

"It was very, very nice seeing the sun rise over the horizon," said Colin Rose, the school's vice-principal. "Everyone was cheering, everyone was happy. It was a great day."

The sun went down in Aklavik in early December, and did not reappear for over a month. 

"The darkness can definitely take a toll on people’s mental health," according to Rose — and that includes Moose Kerr's students, who range from kindergarten to Grade 12.

The vice-principal and his colleagues attempt to mitigate that risk by "keeping the kids engaged as much as possible" and with "healthy habits" like after school sports and on-the-land outings with local Elders, he explained.

This year, the whole student body got involved in the festivities by participating in a drum dance in the gymnasium. 

"The drum dance was a great success," he said. "We had the entire school gather in the gym around 10 in the morning, and every student who was in the school that day participated in the welcome-back-the-sun drum dance. 

"[The dance] was taught to the students by a couple of our local experts who work at the school here as support assistants. They really instructed the kids on the movement of the dance and the meaning of behind it," said Rose. "They really led the whole school in that dance, which was excellent, and really good to see."

The school's staff and students also celebrated with some fireworks. That meant braving some pretty cold temperatures, but it was well worth it, according to Rose. 

"It was a pretty warm day until we got outside for the fireworks, and the wind picked up, but the kids enjoyed themselves," he said. "They had a great time with the sparklers. It was a great event."

It will still be some time before the sun starts sticking around for significant portions of the day in Aklavik, but Rose believes its reappearance gives the feeling of "a new beginning" and "a fresh start." He's confident this new beginning will usher in another good year for the school — thanks in large part to its hard-working principal, Janine Johnson. 

"This is my fifth year here now at Moose Kerr, and we’ve had a really strong principal at our school in Janine Johnson, who has been phenomenal in terms of leadership for the staff and students," he said. "Having a strong leader definitely makes for a successful school year, and we’re very happy with the team we have at the school this year, and very confident the students are going to have another successful year."



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